Bridge-protector.



W. E. ASHLEY.

BRIDGE PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25. 1916.

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WILLIAM E. ASHLEY, 0F GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191?.

Application filed November 25, 1916. Serial No. 133,440.

whatsoever, including buildings and bales of cotton, in time of high water. Although the structure may incidentally have some functions as a pier-finder, it is adapted, es

sentially, to protect the bridge itself against dislodgment from the abutments.

The invention aims to provide a device of this type whereby floating logs and like debris will be deposited on the banks of the stream, above the level of the water, so that the matter thus collected may be hauled away.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combina tion and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings 1- Figure 1 shows in top plan, a device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Flg. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the-deflector.

' In the drawings, the banks of a stream appear at 1. Abutments 2 are shown, the same supporting a bridge 3 of any desired kind. The ordinary stage of the water 1n the stream is indicated at 4, and the high water mark is shown at 5.

Any desired number of supports 6 are mounted in the bed of the stream, on the 5 up stream side of the bridge 3. The supports 6 are well set on secure foundations in the bed of the stream and may be sustained by guys 7 connected with anchors 8 mounted in the banks 1 of the stream above the high water mark 5, preferably. The guys 7 extend up stream, to give a more adequate support for the members 6.

The supportsfi carry a deflector which may be of any desired form. In the present instance, but not necessarily, the deflector is in the shape of a V, the apex of which is disposed up stream, and includes wings 9 which may be provided with a metal facing 10, if desired. As shown at 11, the wings 9 extend onto the banks 1 of the stream above the high water mark 5.

The upper edges of the wings 9 are located above the high water mark 5, and the lower edges of the wings 9 are spaced above the ordinary stage 4 of the water in the stream and below the lowest stringers or cords of the bridge.

If desired, as indicated at 12 in Fig. 3, the wings 9 of the deflector may be concaved or inclined outwardly, toward their lower edges, so that the deflector, roughly speaking, takes the form of a plow share.

In practical operation, when the water in the stream rises, logs and like floating debris will be received by the deflector and be carried laterally onto the banks of the stream, from which they may be hauled away or disposed of otherwise. The logs and the like, therefore, are prevented from banking up against the bridge 3 or striking the same.

It is obvious that the structure forming the subject matter of this application serves not only to protect the bridge which is immediately adjacent thereto but, as well, serves to deposit floating material 011 the banks of the stream, so that such material cannot move downstream to the damage and detriment of other bridges. The deflector is so constructed, and is spaced sufliciently from the bed of the stream, that water may flow beneath the deflector at ordinary stages of the water as freely as under the bridge, the deflector exercising a minimum elfect in damming the stream. When floods occur, the deflector will promote the passage of water by depositing all debris on the banks of the stream.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. The combination with a bridge extended across a stream, of a deflector extended across the stream and located on the up-stream side of the bridge, the deflector being upwardly extended above the high Water level of the stream and having both of its ends disposed on the banks of the stream above the high Water mark, the deflector being angularly disposed With respect to the flow line of the stream.

2. The combination With a bridge extending across a stream, of a V-shaped deflector extended across the stream and including Wings prolonged onto the banks of the stream above the level of the Water in the stream, the deflector being upwardly extended above the high water line of the stream, the apex of the deflector being disposed upstream; supports mounted in the bed of the stream and carrying the deflector; anchors mounted in the banks of the stream, and guys connecting the anchors with the supports, the guys extending upstream from the supports to the anchors.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM E. ASHLEY.

Witnesses MARION S. Sronnn, SALLIE M KAUGHAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

